Cherry Blossom on the Wind
by rose of light
Summary: Sakura was just enjoying the day when Sasuke comes up and starts acting weird. Naruto arrives and Kakashi has something strange to say. Will these orders change her life? Humor and soon action combine with a romantic twist that will keep you guessing.
1. The Spring Winds Change

**Own Naruto? Sadly no. He would have made a fantastic slave.**

* * *

**Cherry Blossom on the Wind**

It was the most beautiful day Konoha had seen in a while. The sun was shining warmly with a soft complimenting breeze. Petals from the flowering trees were blowing through the air under the lazily rolling clouds, and a previous rain had caused everything to seem new. Sakura paused on the bridge on her way back to town and leaned on the rail. She inhaled the fresh damp air. Spring always seemed to lift her spirits, weather such as this made her feel like she could do anything she wanted.

She crouched down and picked up a pebble that had most likely been kicked onto the bridge by a previous traveler. She stood up, took a fleeting look at the familiar Team 7 meeting place, dropped the pebble into the swiftly flowing stream, and watched her blissful mood sink with the stone.

Sighing heavily while again leaning forward against the rail, she said to herself, "If only I could capture the heart of that elusive Uchiha!"

"Really? You're after Itachi, too?"

Sakura whirled sharply, her gaze flying towards the other end of the bridge from which the voice came. To her utter shock, the person standing there was Sasuke. Though she knew that he was aware her feelings for him, his arrival at one of her private moments of exasperation was still quite embarrassing.

With one eyebrow cocked, Sasuke wore his ever-present frown, though his eyes showed a hint of amusement. As he sauntered to a spot across from her, he said, "I've been having a bit of trouble finding him as well. But don't worry - once I've finished him, you can have his heart. Well, as long as you don't mind it being stabbed repeatedly."

Sakura's face had gone from blood red at Sasuke's unexpected arrival to irridesent green at his gory humor - if it could be called humor.

_Whatever Itachi had done to him,_ she thought,_ must have been bad. I don't think I've ever heard him talk like this. It makes me think of..._him.

Sakura was shaken from her thoughts as Sasuke reached for his weapons. Sakura felt a wave of panic. Were they about to be attacked? Why could she not sense danger? She looked around as far as she could without moving her head - she did not any enemies that _could_ be near to know that she had a hint that they were a threat - and then returned her gaze to Sasuke. He had removed a kunai knife from his pouch and was attaching a paper bomb to it.

_What is going on?_ Sakura had to know.

"Sasuke-" she began.

"Hold on," he cut her off. "I'll explain in a minute."

He threw the kunai knife high into the air. When he judged that it was high enough, he mad a quick hand sign and the paper bomb exploded.

Sasuke looked away from the clearing smoke and settled his gaze back on Sakura. If he was not so good at controlling his emotions - anger being the only exception - he would have burst into uncontrollable laughter upon seeing Sakura's face, which was emitting hopeless confusion.

Beginning again slowly as to prevent herself from going ballistic, Sakura tried, "Sasuke, please - "

"Kakashi-sensei called an emergency team meeting," he interrupted her once more. "He sent Naruto and me looking for you. When one of us found you, we were to use a paper bomb to signal the others and meet up at the usual spot. Finding you here has just made everyone's job easier."

With that, he swung up onto the railing and laid down - closing his eyes in the sunshine as if to take a catnap.

Forcing herself not to stare at his reclining frame, she looked past him instead.

"Sasuke," trying once again, hoping for no more interruptions. "Why did Kakashi-sensei call an emergency meeting? What's this all about?"

Sasuke adjusted his position slightly and replied, "Dunno. All he said was, 'Find Sakura signal with a paper bomb and meet at the usual spot go. And then he disappeared."

He lazily opened one eye at her and then slowly shut it again while saying, "You might as well take a nap or something. Naruto may get here in a while, but it's not like Kakashi will be here any time soon."

"SLURP! Yeah, I know."

Sakura whirled around at the new voice, but Sasuke just smirked - eyes still shut.


	2. Naruto, Kakashi, and Hobos

**Hopefully, this causes the summary to make more sense!**

* * *

Naruto was walking up the bridge - a bowl of ramen in one hand and chopsticks in the other, helping him to slurp up the broth and noodle goodness, as he spoke between mouthfulls.

"That's - slurp - why I stopped for ramen when - swallow - I heard the paper bomb. Slurp -I figured that since Kakashi-sensei is - chew chew - always late, I could get some ramen, eat it, take a nap, and be done digesting before Sensei gets here and gives us work. Slurp - Brilliant, huh?"

"Guess again."

Naruto nearly choked in surprise. He did not know which fact startled him most: the fact that Kakashi-sensei had suddenly appeared behind him, the fact that Kakashi was on time, or the fact that his sensei had said "Guess again" with a creepy, sing-song voice.

Naruto spun around to face Kakashi-sensei. Pointing with his chopsticks, he cried,"Yaaah! Sensei! What the HECK is going on?! You're **NEVER** on time!!"

Kakashi smiled with his one visible eye and said, "Well, I can be on time. You've just never been there to witness it. Actually, I was chatting with the hobo who lives under the bridge until you got here."

Naruto was suddenly very confused. "Huh? A hobo?"

Kakashi was still grinning. "Well, there's no real - huh? Wait, Naruto - "

Too late. Naruto was hanging over the side of the bridge yelling, "He-LLOOOOO! Mr. Hobo? Where are ya?!"

Kakashi just chuckled. Looking at the other two, he said, "Anyway, I shouldn't be late if I called an _emergency_ meeting."

Sasuke swung into a sitting position, Sakura looked cautiously out of the corner of her eye, and Naruto continued to call the hobo under the bridge.

Kakashi kicked Naruto lightly in the leg. "Naruto, get up. You need to hear this."

Naruto seemed to squirm a little. "No, wait - WAAAUGHH!"

He was suddenly sent flipping over the rail, and then he landed flat on his back in the middle of the bridge. A black bruise was slowly forming around his right eye.

Naruto lifted his head slightly off the wood and then slowly let it back down. "Eyrgh...That hobo...isn't very nice."

Sakura was now the one confused. _"Hobo"? but, didn't Sensei...?_

When Sakura glanced over at Kakashi, he was just blankly staring down at Naruto. Noticing her stare, he grinned slightly with his eye and shrugged.

Sakura shook her head and sighed. She went over to Naruto and helped him up - he probably would have thrown himself under the bridge again if it meant she would help him up once more, though he was too pained to think about that.

As she leaned Naruto against the rail, she spoke to Kakashi over her shoulder. "Now, sensei, you were saying..."

Kakashi looked at her blankly. "Hmm? Ah, yes. The meeting."

He cleared his throat and continued. "I need you all to listen very carefully. We have a big challenge on our hands."

The young Team 7 ninjas were now listening not only carefully but tensely.

"We have been challenged by Might Guy and his team to compete with them in various competitions to decide which team is better."

Naruto, suddenly better, started laughing. "Hahaha! Sensei, we can beat them easily! Believe it!"

"Oh, I'll believe it when I see it. You see, these won't be ordinary matches. They'll test all areas of being a ninja - from obstacle courses to target practice. Some of the competitions will be strange, so don't be caught off guard. The thing is, _they_ get to choose. And at the beginning of every battle, each shinobi must wager something. It's almost like a Casino-style Competition. "

Sakura looked up. "But sensei, if _all_ of team seven is competing, doesn't that mean that you - "

"You'll get the rest of the details tomorrow, I promise." Sakura looked back down.

Kakashi began to walk away and stopped. "Oh, and you can't get out of this."

He did not stop speaking while Sakura's eyes widened. "It begins tomorrow morning and you had better not lose. That's an order."


	3. Encouragement

Sakura walked home slowly, feeling quite discouraged. She knew Kakashi had been speaking to her when he said that no one could get out of the challenge.

She sighed heavily. _Naruto was acting like he had won the lottery, and even Sasuke seemed well pleased. I seem to be the only one who doesn't want to do it. Probably because I'm the most likely to lose. _

She looked up to realize that she had arrived home while she was so deep in thought. She sighed once more and reached into her pocket to pull out her key.

"Hey, Sakura."

Sakura twisted around angrily. Her day had already been ruined and she was tired of so many people sneaking up on her. She was about to tell someone off when she saw her visitor - or rather visitor_**s**_.

Naruto and Sasuke were standing behind her. Sakura nearly had to keep from laughing as both boys seemed to be posing coolly. Naruto was to her left with his right hand on his hip, left hanging at his side, and Sasuke had both hands in his pockets.

Smiling politely, she said, "Hey Sasuke, Naruto! What are you two doing here? Don't you need to prepare for tomorrow?"

Naruto slid his gaze to his right. "Yeah, but we needed to talk to you first."

Sasuke looked in the opposite direction of Naruto. "About tomorrow."

Sakura looked at them warily. _They're probably here to tell me to let them take care of it, forfeit, or fake an illness. Well, if Kakashi-sensei said I couldn't get out of it, I'm up for ideas of how to get around that, I guess._

Naruto eyed her carefully. He hoped that he and Sasuke could convince her.

"We wanted to tell you not to worry."

Sakura was mentally preparing herself. _Here it comes. "Just let us handle it." Come on, get it over with._

Sasuke, too, was watching her. "If you try to run away from the challenge tomorrow, we will personally drag you back."

Sakura's head snapped up. "Huh?"

"Yeah," Naruto added. "You've watched out for both of us before - when we were passed out in the forest of _death_!"

"You're better than you think," Sasuke said. "Don't defeat yourself before you begin. Have confidence."

Naruto's eyes lit up. "Besides, tomorrow's matches won't be normal. Maybe you'll get something you're really good at!"

"Just don't quit on us."

Sakura looked at the two in front of her - her best friends in the world. She looked at them with shining eyes.

"Thank you. That means a lot."

"Sakura!!"

Sakura flinched at the musical voice. _She was supposed to be gone for at least another half hour!_

"Yes, mom?"

She glared at the boys - both biting their lower lip to keep from laughing - as her mother poked her head out one of the front windows.

"Oh! Who are your little friends?"

"Ugh...Mom! They're my teammates. You know, Team 7? We're ninjas, remember?"

Mrs. Haruno cocked her head and smiled. "Oh! Hello there! You're both good looking boys! You must be Sasuke and Naruto! My my, Sakura! You've never brought home one boy before, but now two? I should have had you take the Chunin Exams earlier!"

Sakura was glowering furiously. Naruto and Sasuke thought her head was going to pop.

"Sweetie? Why haven't you invited them in yet?"

Naruto stepped in to save Sakura - whose face color was rivaling that of Gamabunta's.

"Sorry, Mrs. Haruno, but Sasuke and I had better be getting home! Thank you anyway!"

Both boys bowed politely. Sakura nearly apologized for every mean thing she had ever said or done to him - nearly.

Mrs. Haruno looked disappointed as the two turned away. "Oh, okay. That's fine. I wouldn't want to worry your mothers."

Both flinched at the word "mother." Mrs. Haruno gasped and muttered an apology as she retreated into the house. Sakura felt so terrible for both of them.

"N-naruto, Sasuke, I-"

"Don't apologize, Sakura," Naruto interjected, "We know she didn't mean anything."

"We'll see you tomorrow." They both disappeared.

Sakura stood outside the door another moment, staring at where they were previously standing. Then she opened the door and went inside.


	4. The Night Before

Sakura pulled on her silk nightdress. It was her favorite - the soft pink color accented her complexion and brought out her eyes. The top began like any spaghetti-strap tank top, and it flowed down to mid-thigh. The best part, Sakura thought so anyways, was the large cherry blossom imprinted over the area of the right hip. Wayward petals seemed to float away from the blossom across the lower front and "Sakura..." trailed off over the left thigh.

The proud owner of the sleepwear walked over to the full length mirror that hung on her wall. After a careful scrutinization of her appearance, she pulled it down slightly in the front, made sure the seams were symmetrical, and adjusted the straps. Then she turned her back to the mirror and looked over her shoulder. Once the posterior was also properly examined, she moved from the mirror and stepped on the scale. Seeing a number that was one less than the day before, Sakura was happy enough. She returned to the mirror and smoothed out the front of her gown, trying to see the difference the scale showed.

Sakura put her hands on her hips and made a sound of aproval. "Looks like my dieting is paying off!" she said aloud to herself. "If I can just keep it up, it will all be worth it in the end."

Miss Haruno was referring to her "Master Plan." This plan entailed her to achieve "Maximum Hotness" by the beginning of summer and swimsuit season. She was then going to blow Sasuke away with her sexiness so that he would beg her to be his girlfriend. When they finally got married, she would wear her cherry blossom nightgown on her wedding night. Sakura pretty much had her life planned out.

However, something interrupted her daydream of ultimate happiness. It was a little inkling opening in the back of her mind - a spark of maturity telling her that Sasuke was not everything. She was about to shove it back into that dusty corner of her brain when another thought bid her to look into the matter.

Sakura moved to her bedroom door and flicked off the main light. She did not need her lamp to see where she was going as she walked to her bed, pulled back the comforter, and climbed into the beckoning softness. Leaning back on her pillow, she returned to her previous thought.

_What if Sasuke and I never become us?_

To her, this was a serious matter. He was, in fact, the center of her plans for the future. However, he _had_ made perfectly clear that he was not interested in her in that way at all.

_But...he's been acting kind of peculiar. Nothing drastic, just slight. Like before Naruto showed up..._

Naruto. She noticed a change in him, too. He was not his usual overly obnoxious self - funny, yes, but not annoying.

_Maybe..._

Sakura shook her head roughly. Naruto and her? Sakura nearly laughed at herself.

And yet, the idea was not so distasteful as he used to be to her. So Sakura decided to make a change that marked the beginning of her rise in maturity:

She decided to not focus solely on Sasuke.

True, she still liked him, but she wanted to test to see if maybe some other of the male species appealed to her. It would be a big difference. She was still going to try.

_I'll start tomorrow._

A loud gasp ripped from her lungs as she jerked upright in bed. "Tomorrow! The challenge!"

Sakura was at a loss as to how she would manage. True, Naruto and Sasuke were inspiring on the porch, but that did not completely shake the nervousness that held her.

"I need some kind of plan!"

She flicked on the nearby lamp, opened the drawer of the bedside dresser, and pulled out a notebook and a pencil. Writing out some notes would help her - it always worked in class. She thought of the three shinobi that Team 7 would face the next day: Neji Hyuga, Ten Ten, and Rock Lee.

The three were intimidating in their areas of expertise. Neji was a master of defense and a member of the Hyuga clan. Being a Hyuga member is enough in itself to make any ninja sweat, but Neji was a real prodigy. He could already use Rotation, and he could see and stop the flow of chakra at the chakra points in an opponents body.

_If I have to face him, I'll never win. At least there's a two-thirds chance that either Naruto or Sasuke will fight him instead - _they_ have some hope of winning, and Naruto has beaten him before._

Her pencil flew across the paper as her notes lengthened. The second, Ten Ten, had terrifying weapon handling and accuracy. She used summoning scrolls to gather a barrage of weapondry that is sent with deadly precision towards her enemy.

_Okay, I could wait until the last second and dodge, use substitution jutsu a lot - which will take a toll on my chakra, or just hide until she's out of ammo. Not very many options, but better than those I would have with Neji. _

Finally, Rock Lee. With speed rivaling lightning and that puissant Hidden Lotus, Sakura believed herself to be no better off than she would be if she had to fight Neji.

_Well, he has no Gen-jutsu nor Nin-jutsu. I_ could_ play on that. Either that, or turn on my feminine charm. He can't resist me. Maybe he won't want to hurt me, after his promise and what he did that time..._

_"I vow to protect you with my life..."_

Sakura remembered the Chunin exams: Lee asking her out before part one, him protecting her from Sound Ninja who wished kill her, Naruto, and Sasuke, the pre-lims for the finals and his match against Gaara...

Sakura shuddered. He had gotten better since his surgery, but she still could not help...

Her attention snapped over to her alarm clock. 12:03 am.

"WHAT?!" she exclaimed, then caught herself. She froze for a moment, making sure that the other household members not been disturbed, and then returned to her notes. She had filled five pages, front and back, with notes, possible tactics and strategies. It would have to be enough.

She slid the pencil in the metal spiral that bound the notebook, placed both back in the drawer she had pulled them from, and switched off the salmon colored lamp. Slipping under the covers and gently laying her head on the pillow, she drifted off into a deep slumber.


	5. Confusion and Slipups

Sakura slowly drifted into conciousness. She had a brief moment of bliss as she reveled in that small segment of amnesia one gets when just awakening. She yawned, stretched her arms, and lazily rolled onto her side. Her gaze slowly drifted to the clock on her dresser.

Sakura sat up swiftly, a motion that made her gasp and hold her head in pain because of the sudden movement. Learning from that mistake, she slowly turned her body to look at the time again.

"9:30?! Oh, no!! I must have slept through the alarm! I'm going to be late!"

She threw back the covers and slammed her feet on the ground. Feeling around with her toes, she found her fuzzy pink slippers and wriggled the proper foot into each one. She snatched her chosen outfit for the day off the nearby chair and ran for the bedroom door, which she yanked open. She ran down the hallway towards the bathroom, but her slippers on the wood floor caused her to slide right past it as she tried to stop. Her fingers slid across the wall as she tried to stop herself. She succeeded, but fell on her rear in the process.

With one hand on her sore bum, she crawled into the bathroom - a scene that would have made even the most hardened ninja double over in laughter. After managing to stand upright without incident, she shut the door, threw the lock, and looked critically in the mirror. "Ack!!" she exclaimed. "I'm an absolute mess!"

Daintily, she undressed - carefully hanging the nightdress on a hook on the door. She hopped into the bathtub, closed the curtain, and proceeded to take the shortest shower of her life.

After turning off the water and stepping back out, she rapidly towel dried herself, pulled a hairbrush through her hair, a toothbrush across her teeth, and then applied the proper beauty products. She pulled on her clothes and took a last look in the mirror. Properly satisfied with her appearance, she added the finishing touch - a spray of her favorite scent, Cherry Blossom Passion. She reached her hand over and unlocked the door so she could open it and step out.

The hall clock was directly across from the bathroom door so she could not help but notice the time. 9:53 a.m.

Sakura's hands hit the sides of her head. "NOO!"

She tore down the stairs like a cat with its tail on fire. She tried to stop when she reached the bottom, but did not. She smacked into the wall with a resounding _THUNK _and then slid to the floor.

Sakura groaned and pulled herself into the sitting postion. "W-what happened?"

She looked down at her feet and found her answer. She was still been wearing her fluffy slippers.

She smacked herself in the forehead, instantly regretting the action as that part of her head was where she had been hit with the wall not two seconds earlier. Roughly kicking off her footwear, she reached for her shoes, which were on the floor nearby, and shoved her feet into them. She stood up and ran to the door while shouting a farewell to her parents.

"Goingonanimportantmissionbebacklaterloveyoubye!"

She wrenched open the door and continued her fast pace. However, she had not even covered twenty feet when a shadow dropped in front of her. Sakura skid to a stop and took on a defensive position, but then she recognized the figure and relaxed.

Naruto stood and brushed himself off. "Hey, Sakura."

She gave a slight smile and nodded. "Hi, Naruto. What's up?"

"Well, umm..." He closed his eyes and scratched the back of his head sheepishly - a habit he picked up from Kakashi. "This is rather embarrassing..."

Sakura sighed exasperatingly. "Just spit it out. I won't laugh."

Naruto's eyes opened wide as he seriously asked, "Promise?"

"Yeeess."

It was Naruto's turn to sigh, but in relief rather than annoyance. He pursed his lips and talked out of the side of his mouth.

"Sooo...where exactly are we meeting? For the challenge, I mean. And at what time?"

Sakura opened her mouth to berate him and then quickly shut it. In truth, she had no idea. A low moan escaped from her mouth and she sank to the ground.

"Sakura!" Naruto dashed to her side and steadied her as her knees struck the dirt. "What's wrong?!"

She looked at him, grabbed the sides of her head, and cried, "_I SPENT THE WHOLE BLASTED MORNING GETTING READY AND WORRYING ABOUT BEING LATE FOR NO REASON_!!"

She leaned against Naruto in exhaustion. "Ahh, ulcer."

Naruto smiled fondly and shook his head. _Yup. That's __Sakura for ya._

"What are you two doing?"

The two looked up to see a very curious Sasuke standing nonchalantly with one eyebrow cocked.

Sakura assessed the situation: She and Naruto were both kneeling on the ground. She had her hands near her face and obviously looked stressed. Naruto was at her side with one of his hands on her shoulder and the other around her waist. She was resting against his chest and almost seemed to be sitting in his lap. Overall situation assessement: awkward.

Naruto noticed and tried to help save Sakura some embarrassment. "She collapsed. I'm just helping her up."

Sasuke's eyebrow rose higher. "This early in the day?"

Sasuke continued to speak as Naruto aided Sakura in standing. "Aren't you a bit young to be sipping sake? It's a nasty drink to begin with."

Sakura passed Naruto a look that thanked him for trying to cover for her, yet let him know that she was going to defend herself.

Sakura turned back to Sasuke with an innocent, puppy-dog look on her face as she moved seductively towards him.

"You shouldn't speak so badly about sake, Saskey-kun," she spoke in a babying voice. "After all, it _is_ what made last night so good."

Had either of them been looking at Naruto, they would have witnessed another of his gullible moments as his jaw dropped lower than humanly possible. _Sakura...Sasuke...did they...really...?!_

Sasuke simply smirked. "Suddenly so perverted?"

Sakura crossed her arms. She was back to normal.

"Well, what did you expect? Come on - I'm on a team with three guys, and one of them is obsessed with Icha Icha Paradise!"

Naruto pushed his jaw back into place. "But - wait! Isn't Kakashi-sensei obsessed too-- CLAMP!"

Naruto fastened his hands over his mouth. Sakura slowly turned towards Naruto. Her eyes were dark.

"Do you mean to tell me that _you're_ obsessed, too?"

"I-I didn't say m-m-me!" Naruto stammered through his fingers.

"Then-"

Sasuke threw the most withering look over Sakura's shoulder at Naruto. The fox-ninja blanched and slowly pulled away his shaking hands.

"Uhhh, what I meant to s-say w-was..."

Sakura glared. "Was _what_?!"

"Ummm..."

He knew he must have sounded like Hinata. Then, he found his escape.

"Ooh! Hi, Kakashi-sensei!!"

Sakura and Sasuke followed Naruto with their eyes as he ran past them and squeezed the newly arrived jounin in a big hug.

Kakashi's half-lidded eye looked calmly down at Naruto. "You have three seconds to let go. If you don't, I will break both of your arms."

Naruto released his teacher and sidled away - his arms tucked firmly behind his back.

Sakura ran to her teacher. "Kakashi-sensei! Where are we supposed to fight?"

"Hmm?" he peered down at her. "Fight what?"

All three genin slumped as the same thought passed through their minds. _Is he being serious?!_

"Sensei..." Sakura took a deep breath before continuing. "The challenges against Guy-sensei's team. Where are they? And what time?"

"Didn't I already tell you all that?"

Sasuke was the one to reply. "Actually, the only real information you gave us was 'Casino-style competition,' 'they get to choose,' 'tomorrow morning,' and 'don't lose.'"

"Ah. Yes, well..." Kakashi scratched the back of his neck like Naruto had but minutes before. "The initial meeting for the challenge is at the training grounds."

Sakura was getting impatient. "But what time does it start?!"

"Ummm...today at 7:30..."

The genin all sighed in relief.

"...a.m."

The genin roared in outrage.

"What the--?!"

"KAKASHI!!"

"_CHAA! JUST BECAUSE _YOU'RE_ ALWAYS LATE--!!"_

Kakashi held up a hand. Sasuke regained his composure, but Sakura and Naruto were still red-faced and fuming.

"It'll be okay, you'll see. Everything will be blamed on my reputation for being late. They'll say 'like sensei, like students' and then we'll begin."

Sakura huffed. "But what if they _don't_ and we're penalized?!"

Kakashi shrugged. "Oh well, then."


End file.
